© Serpentine North Gallery
David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts About Painting
12 March 2026 — 23 August 2026
On NowDavid Hockney's first Serpentine exhibition brings his celebrated 90-metre frieze A Year in Normandie to London for the first time, alongside new paintings that continue his lifelong exploration of looking — celebrating the beauty found in everyday observation.
From Serpentine North Gallery
One of the most influential artists of our time, David Hockney invites viewers to slow down and notice the extraordinary within the everyday in his first exhibition at Serpentine. Created specifically for this presentation, Hockney’s new paintings extend his lifelong fascination with the act of looking, affirming his belief that simple beauty is worth celebrating. The exhibition is conceived in close collaboration with the artist and brings Hockney’s celebrated ninety-metre-...
Read more at Serpentine North Gallery →Critic Reviews (4)
The Standard
Melanie McDonagh
The iPad paintings underwhelm but it's hard not to be cheered by this show
"For I'm not sure that painterly qualities are enhanced by the medium of the iPad. It looks from close-up like enforced pointillism; colours not blended but superimposed on one another. In one image of a flowering tree (a favourite motif) the effect is made by imposing uniform light and dark green circles on lots and lots of small pink and white ones."
Read full review →The Guardian
Ben Eastham
a 90-metre vision of nature that only looks great on your phone
"For the past 50 years, Hockney has flitted between these two modes, returning occasionally from noodling to remind us of his gift for direct communication (see his portrait of the performer Divine, the affecting drawings of his ageing mother, or his paintings of the Yorkshire landscape in the 2000s). But, sad to report, it is to the late stages of the jazz tendency that most of this exhibition belongs."
Read full review →The Telegraph
Alastair Sooke
I found David Hockney’s 80-metre iPad painting surprisingly moving
"Yet, I was surprised by how spellbinding I found A Year in Normandie. It doesn’t reflect my memory of lockdown (our household was upended by a demanding one-year-old); it might not reflect yours. But it is, somehow, universal: a sort of quiet paradise that simultaneously implies life’s ups and downs."
Read full review →The Independent
Mark Hudson
David Hockney's Serpentine show offers a message of hope in a desperate world
"Its immersive evocation of the renewal not only of nature, but of art and life itself, couldn't have arrived at a better moment. It offers a message of hope to a desperate world."
Read full review →About the Artist
Visit
Kensington Gardens, London·View on artmap
© Serpentine North Gallery
David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts About Painting
12 March 2026 — 23 August 2026
On NowDavid Hockney's first Serpentine exhibition brings his celebrated 90-metre frieze A Year in Normandie to London for the first time, alongside new paintings that continue his lifelong exploration of looking — celebrating the beauty found in everyday observation.
From Serpentine North Gallery
One of the most influential artists of our time, David Hockney invites viewers to slow down and notice the extraordinary within the everyday in his first exhibition at Serpentine. Created specifically for this presentation, Hockney’s new paintings extend his lifelong fascination with the act of looking, affirming his belief that simple beauty is worth celebrating. The exhibition is conceived in close collaboration with the artist and brings Hockney’s celebrated ninety-metre-...
Read more at Serpentine North Gallery →Critic Reviews (4)
The Standard
Melanie McDonagh
The iPad paintings underwhelm but it's hard not to be cheered by this show
"For I'm not sure that painterly qualities are enhanced by the medium of the iPad. It looks from close-up like enforced pointillism; colours not blended but superimposed on one another. In one image of a flowering tree (a favourite motif) the effect is made by imposing uniform light and dark green circles on lots and lots of small pink and white ones."
Read full review →The Guardian
Ben Eastham
a 90-metre vision of nature that only looks great on your phone
"For the past 50 years, Hockney has flitted between these two modes, returning occasionally from noodling to remind us of his gift for direct communication (see his portrait of the performer Divine, the affecting drawings of his ageing mother, or his paintings of the Yorkshire landscape in the 2000s). But, sad to report, it is to the late stages of the jazz tendency that most of this exhibition belongs."
Read full review →The Telegraph
Alastair Sooke
I found David Hockney’s 80-metre iPad painting surprisingly moving
"Yet, I was surprised by how spellbinding I found A Year in Normandie. It doesn’t reflect my memory of lockdown (our household was upended by a demanding one-year-old); it might not reflect yours. But it is, somehow, universal: a sort of quiet paradise that simultaneously implies life’s ups and downs."
Read full review →The Independent
Mark Hudson
David Hockney's Serpentine show offers a message of hope in a desperate world
"Its immersive evocation of the renewal not only of nature, but of art and life itself, couldn't have arrived at a better moment. It offers a message of hope to a desperate world."
Read full review →About the Artist
Visit
Kensington Gardens, London·View on artmap